A servant heart week 17, 2016

Thank God it was the servants Mary turned to and said "Do whatever Jesus tells you to do."  Jn 2:5(CEV). Genuine faith breeds obedience. It has been said before but bears repeating: obeying God is key to getting His results and interventions in our lives. Obedience, complete obedience even when it sounds foolish to the ears. Jesus told the servants, "Fill the jars with water." So they filled them up to the brim Jn 2:7(ISV).

What has filling pots with water got to do with getting wine? Will more water not worsen the matter? But it is not the servant’s place to question instructions. We need to present the heart and attitude of servants to Jesus to get His intervention. In God’s interventions there is a man-ward part as well as a God-ward part. Find out the part you are to play and do it. For Lazarus to rise the instruction to man was roll the stone away Jn 11:39. Until that happened the command to raise him waited. Before Jesus multiplied the bread and fish to feed thousands in each occasion explicit instructions were passed to the disciples. Wait on Him as servants do and receive His word. Wait for however long it takes. God called Moses apart to the mountain yet when Moses came up he waited 7 days before God’s word started flowing to him. Jeremiah at a time waited 10 days, but Elisha had the word when the minstrel began to play. The point is this: wait on Him for His word. And as they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Spirit said... Act 13:2(ASV).

Having received the word the servants obeyed fully. In marriage the word to love unconditionally may appear to some as pouring water into the pot. But God never said “Wife make sure your husband loves you” or “Husband see to it your wife submits to you”. Never. It sounds foolish to many an ear when your spouse is dealing with you hardly to increase loving and submission. But God says “Make sure that no one pays back evil for evil. Instead, always pursue what is good for each other and for everyone else.” 1Thess 5:15(ISV). That statement is made repeatedly in the Bible. And o man have you never read “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.” Prov 19:11(ESV)? Why are you always noticing your wife’s offence to you? Naaman wanted healing but would have lost it when he went first to the king instead of Elisha, and then felt the instruction from Elisha was foolish (2Kgs 5:3-7, 9-12). Did you notice it was servants that came to his rescue? But then his servants approached him and spoke with him... 2Kgs 5:13(ISV). Have a servant’s heart to Jesus’ words I beg. Naaman was whole at the 7^th dip; not the 6^th.

Have you been pouring water and you see no change? Obey completely. When you do, when your obedience is complete you will avenge all disobedience: being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete 2Cor 10: 6. Your problem is not “my husband when will you change”; my in law, my housemaid. No! not humans. Are you claiming 1Pt3:1-4? Obey completely.